Teens are often roped into joining the military at the thought of shooting things, guns and explosions. While these aspects of military recruitment do exist, it is not normally on the level that high school teens seem to think. Here are 5 of the more over exaggerated claims that are made regarding joining the military.
1 – Many teens join the military because they are under the impression that they will learn how to drive tanks, and that those tanks are fun and exciting to drive or ride in.
2 – Many teens join the military because they are under the impression that they will get access to free weapons that they can take with them when they leave.
3 – Many teens join the military because they are under the impression that they can be stationed anywhere they like in the world without paperwork and having to prove themselves worthy.
4 – Many teens join the military because they are under the impression that all of their worries will go away when they join up.
5 – Many teens join the military because they are under the impression that the adrenaline rush makes it all worthwhile.
One thing not mentioned in this five-point list is the societal aspect of a militaristic culture. In the US today there exists a sacred cow and that is the soldier. We have a military we proudly exclaim as being a “citizen army” which thus also includes members from across the demographic this includes men/women, rich/poor, taller/shorter, and we are fine with that section of the advertisement but this also means the military includes good/bad, smart/stupid, But we cannot actually state this part as it would be considered an “insult” to our demi-gods we now recognize our soldiers as being. So a young less than stellar(intellectually speaking) soon to graduate teenage boy who only wants that sense of gravitas that he’d have to get via getting into innumerable fights on the street or actually having to grow up (which takes years) sees the army as his ticket to immediate hero-status and automatic gravitas. This was never a planned thing but it does take advantage of the weak minds of young men who in our culture misunderstand that as soon as they sign on the dotted line that they become a “HERO” a demi-god, regardless of whether they may be a sociopath or a baby-rapist or enjoys to beat little old ladies up for their social security cheques. If we have a true citizen army and we we accept imprisoning a full one percent of our populace because of these crimes we must also accept that these numbers also exist in our army. That is unless we just don’t want to admit this.